Pairing one of today’s most gifted jazz guitarists (Anthony Pirog) with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s fiercest rhythm sections (Brendan Canty and Joe Lally) was always going to be a recipe for success, but on their sophomore LP Anthropocosmic Nest, Washington, D.C.’s The Messthetics are blowing past the old goals and delivering one of the most raucous and satisfying releases of the year. Wildly inventive with surprises awaiting the listener at every turn, Nest is an ecstatic proclamation of skronk-and-circumstance that says not only are The Messthetics BACK, but they’re here to stay!

In just a few short years, singer-songwriter Mitski Miyawaki has gone from playing a basement in Maryland in 2014 at the home of former D.C.-area favorites Two Inch Astronaut (RIP) to successive packed shows the next two years at DC9, Rock and Roll Hotel, and the festival circuit. For her latest world tour, she’s sold out 30+ dates well in advance. No matter where she plays, it feels like the throngs grow exponentially each time and her set at the beautiful Vic Theatre in Chicago was no different.

Nothing is more reassuring than a group who hasn't toured in six years performing as if nothing has changed. While mentioning that their hour-long set was almost over, Molly Sarle proclaimed "We used to play for 30 minutes, and 15 minutes of it used to be about our periods."

Music has always been the lifeblood running through multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook's veins for as long as he can remember. In 2015 he fully dialed in to that guiding presence for the first time in his life, and the result was the magnificent Southland Mission. Mission mined a deep history of American gospel and blues to deliver songs of beauty, hope and rejuvenation, that didn't just honor what came before them, but weaved themselves into the very fabric of the rich tapestry of the culture that's at the root of our modern experience.

We (finally) caught up with Phil before his recent show here in Washington, DC to talk about his past, the music he loves, and how a goofy kid from Wisconsin found enlightenment at at an early age in the most unlikely of places.

This podcast can be the instrument to mend a broken heart or to straighten out your life through the sincere testimony of one righteous dude. A must!